CHAPTER
FOUR

More
Than Just Friends

Ranma had printed out the e-mail. He could not understand why his
obsession. Ryoga…in America. Ranma knew that Ryoga would find the love
that he actually deserved, especially in San Francisco. He recalled Ranko
talking about how there were more of those kind of men there. Ryoga
would be happy because he would be able to be with men like him.

Ranma crumpled up the e-mail as he looked out into the pale blue sky.
Ryoga. Ryoga chasing him around Tokyo with bandanas as sharp as blades.
Ryoga who would continually try to beat Ranma up to a pulp but was never successful.
The last memory of his contact with Ryoga was the one that lingered most.
Ryoga as fragile as he could have ever been. Ranma had tried to block the
memory out like a crashing wave. But the memory waifed over him like still
water.

It was just an hour before the Saotome-Tendo wedding that Ranma saw
Ryoga one last time. Ranma was in Akane’s room getting ready while Akane was
downstairs in the practice room with her sisters. He stood in front of Akane's
full body-mirror adjusting his tie. He heard a small crash on his left side.
But a gust of wind silenced it. Suddenly Ranma felt the tip of a hard bamboo
rod at his neck, choking him. As he gasped for air, he followed the rod to
the familiar outline of an umbrella.

“Damnit do I have to beat the crap out of you too?” Ranma grumbled
as he assumed his fighting position. “I had to deal with Shampoo, Ukyou, Kodachi,
Kuno, Happosai, Mousse, Mikado, and a bunch of other people I can’t remember.
It’s like a reunion to beat Ranma up.”

“I’m not here to fight,” Ryoga said. Ryoga put the umbrella away. He
looked handsome in his dark black tuxedo. “I’m just here to say that I won’t
be attending your wedding, Saotome. But you got what you wanted.”

“It’s best for Akane-chan,” Ranma
said quietly. “She needs me right now.”

“Yeah,” Ryoga looked down. “She needs you more than I do.” He started
to turn away.

“Excuse
me?” Ranma looked at Ryoga. "Since when did you ever need me? As a punching
bag? You never needed anyone because every time someone got close to you,
you just ran away like you usually do.”

“No, that’s what you do!"Ryoga turned back around. “If things don’t go your way you just
run away till they do. Well, congratulations because it’s finally going your
way now.”

“You didn’t tell her the real story,” Ryoga snarled. “You told her
that dumb ‘curry bread’ story. That wasn’t the reason why we were fighting
remember!It was because all the boys were snickering
that I WAS YOUR SEMPAI! And you had to prove how ‘manly’ you were thanks
to that stupid contract that your father made your mother sign. So you told
me that we just needed to pretend that we were fighting a little bit so the
boys wouldn’t think you were just like them.”

“Except your stupid sense of direction ruined everything,” Ranma said.
“And by the time you came back, I was already off to China. You couldn’t even
find your way to the park for our first date.” Ranma was shocked at what he
was saying. “Besides, it was meant to happen this way.”

“I followed you for our ‘fight,’” Ryoga stammered angrily. “And you
took me to hell and back. You made me feel loved and wanted and needed. And
all of a sudden you just turn away from me…for an...uncute girl!” Ryoga paused
for a moment, the anger building under his breath. “ No wait…it was SEVERAL
WOMEN that I had to compete with! And you were doing a really good job acting
like you didn’t mind all the women!”

“People change, eh?” Ranma leered angrily. He wasn’t going to let Ryoga
ruin the happiest day of his life. “And so did you. You were doing a good
job sleeping with Akane, eh P-Chan? Admit it, you liked her as well.”

“I admit that there was some satisfaction in
watching your blood boil as she warmed up to me,” Ryoga crossed his arms grinning.
“But no, I was not in love with her. Nor was I with Akari. I can’t give Akari
what she wants. She wanted a pig and...I wanted a man.”

“Then you were a good actor,” Ranma replied. “Ryoga, you fall for anyone
who shows you pity that you don’t deserve.”

“And you use the Saotome-Secret-Technique of running away from your
problems really well,” Ryoga said. “You’re a master at it.”

“Look Ryoga,” Ranma told him coldly. “What we were was a joke. I
was confused…and all of those hormones… And we were kids, you know, but now
we’re adults and it’s time to grow up.” He spoke with poignant daggers that
pierced Ryoga’s heart.

“Really?”
Ryoga said coolly. “Because it wasn’t a joke to me.” He drew himself closer
to Ranma and kissed him. He could feel Ranma’s warm breath tingle on his lips
and hear faintly Ranma’s heart beating. Faster.Ryoga drew away with tears in his eyes. But he stuffed them. He needed
to be a man so he pushed the tears back into his eyes. “Give Akane my apologies
that P-Chan won’t be able to go to the wedding.” And Ryoga ran out of the
dojo, never to be heard of again.

Ranma
paused for a while to let the aftermath sink in. The tingle of Ryoga still
on his lips. Did Ryoga just do what he just did to him? Did Ryoga actually
love him?Akane walked into the room. She looked absolutelly stunning, not
the rugged tomboy Ranma once knew. Her hair was covered by a lacy white veil
with carnations sprouting out from both sides of her hair. Her dress was slim,
pale white, with silk ribbon.

“It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride,” Ranma looked down.

"I
heard the crash coming from the roof," Akane smiled. "Are you alright?"

"I'm
fine," Ranma said. "Ryoga can't make it to the wedding," Ranma
said nonchalantly. "He had to go on some trip or whatever."

“It’s a shame,” Akane said. “Didn’t you want him to be your best man?”

“Ryoga’s just weird,” Ranma muttered quietly. “He was the closest to
a friend that I’ve ever gotten to. Well, a guy friend ya’ know?” Ranma tried
to choke up the words. He tried to look strong in front of Akane. But he couldn’t.
He looked at Akane and instead saw Ryoga’s torn face staring back at him.
Ranma broke down. Akane gave him a warm hug. He kissed Akane and felt safe
again. This is how it is supposed to go.

“Are you ready to go, Ms. Saotome?” Ranma held Akane’s hand.

“More ready than ever,” Akane grinned.

Uuchan’s was also the same as before. Ukyou started to grab a broom
and proceeded to clean up the place. She started to sweep when she heard the
door creak open.

“We’re closed…,” Ukyou started to say but she paused. It was Akane.
Her short hair tossed to one as she peered into the doorway.

“May I come in?” Akane asked.

“It’s a free country,” Ukyou shrugged. Akane stepped in. Akane in her
red running jacket, white cotton tank top and dark blue pants. Ukyou held
back the drool as her heart beat faster.

“I left a part of my life here, hon” Ukyou replied in an equally-frigid
response. “Not that you care of course. You know what I want and I know you
want it too.”

“You know why I did it,” Akane said. “Why I gave you up for him. The
Tendo family line depends on it.”

“The Tendo family line has two other daughters,” Ukyou stammered. “Why
couldn’t you just be the exception…”

“And he needed me,” Akane added furiously. “He needed me because
he lost his father! How could I turn away from him in his time of need, especially
when that bastard Ryoga ran away from him.”

“At the cost of what we could have had,” Ukyou replied furiously.

Akane looked away and took off her running jacket. “It happens like
this doesn’t it?” Akane whined. “You come running back into my life like a
whirlwind with your flirting with Ranma…and then we end up arguing somewhere…and
then, I just want to get over you…” Akane was starting to fight back the tears
falling down her face.

“Then get over me,” Ukyou fired back. “Move on. Go back to your husband
like the good modest Japanese girl you really aren’t!”

Akane started to break down. Ukyou was breathtaking to Akane and she
had always known it. But now, Ukyou was more breath taking than ever in her
tight green tanktop and dark blue jeans. The clothing wrapped around Ukyou’s
body and accented her strong feminine curves. And this time, her hair wasn’t
in a bun. It was a long mane of thick, wavy and lustrous brown hair. Akane
tried to bite her lips, wanting to prevent what she was about to say next.

“And
then, you do the thing,” Akane started to stutter. “The thing that makes me
want you. The thing that makes me…need you.”

Ukyou
smiled. She could feel Akane’s fragility. And she got Akane right where she
wanted her. She swung her hair over to the side and looked at Akane, her pursed
lips turning into a coy smile. “Come over here,” Ukyou cooed.

Akane
moved up to Ukyou. Ukyou perked her eyes up but she knew exactly what was
about to happen. Akane looked deeper into Ukyou’s soft brown eyes, her breath
deeper. Ukyou’s heart started beating faster. Ukyou closed her eyes and accepted
Akane’s lips. Her soft rosy lips brushed lightly on Ukyou’s lips. And then
Akane pushed deeper. Their lips started intermingling, speaking silently with
tongues untied with such fervor. Akane’s soft lips sucked Ukyou’s lower lip.

Ukyou
could feel Akane pushing up to her. Ukyou felt excited looking at Akane’s
extremely fit body. Ukyou felt the softness of Akane’s cotton tank top rubbing
onto her cotton shirt. Akane’s breasts rubbing up closer to Ukyou’s breasts.
The short-haired girl’s nipples were already straining out of the tanktop.
Akane started to stroke Ukyou’s hair. Ukyou cupped Akane’s head as she pushed
Akane toward one edge of the wall. Akane’s hands cupped Ukyou’s breasts as
her tongue continued to frantically tang with Ukyou’s.

The
familiar dance had just begun. Akane started to fight with unbuttoning Ukyou’s
shirt. However, her excitement had prevented her to succeed at this deed.
“I can do it myself,” Ukyou smiled and whispered to Akane. They continued
to kiss and Ukyou unbuttoned her shirt, revealing her slightly tanned breasts
gasping in a green bra. Akane started rubbing her hands around Ukyou’s perky
breasts.

Ukyou
unzipped Akane’s pants and delved her fingers deeper, past the softness of
Akane’s soaked cotton panties and the silky skin. Akane gasped as she slipped
her jogging pants down, wearing only her black panties and Ukyou’s fingers.
Akane returned the favor and soon Ukyou was also panty-less except for Akane’s
fingers rubbing Ukyou’s outer lips. Ukyou moaned quietly. Ukyou’s mind raced
fervously. Where should they fuck this time? One time it was in Akane’s
room. Then it was Ukyou’s room but she felt like her room was too far. Her
libido was too intense.

The
okonomiyaki grill was cool enough.

Ukyou
straddled Akane on the grill. Akane felt a sudden jolt travel all through
her body as her skin felt the cool metal of the grill. Ukyou continued to
kiss her as she straddled Akane. Akane looked down on both of their smooth
bodies and saw that their vaginas fit perfectly into each other. Ukyou’s soft
fingers worked their way deeper into Akane. Akane started thrusting her hips
to the rhythm of Ukyou’s fingers. Ukyou felt her fingers become slippery with
Akane’s juices and her ears drowned in Akane’s moans. Thank God the shop
is closed right now because I wouldn’t want any customers to walk in on this.

At
the site of Akane wriggling in her own pleasure, Ukyou could feel her orgasm
building within herself. She wanted to bring Akane so much pleasure that it
was almost hurting her. Her thighs were already wet with desire. “Finish me
off,” Ukyou whispered. Akane struggled to get the energy to pick up her hands.
She started rubbing Ukyou’s clitoris. Ukyou moaned and came. She fell on top
of Akane, thus pushing Akane’s deeper into her. Two young women bathed in
their sweat and their lust.

NOTES

“Sempai”
is Japanese for “significant other” so in this case, boyfriend.

The
“Curry Bread” story comes from the Ranma ˝ novel. According to the story,
Ryoga and Ranma went to an all-boys school together and Ranma took the last
piece of curry bread (think: Hot Pocket.) I personally feel like this is complete
bullshit story that Ranma makes up in order to cover up the real reason that
Ryoga and Ranma became such bitter enemies. Of course, Akane thinks it is
bullshit. And then, when Ranma tosses Ryoga pieces of curry bread in their
first meeting in the manga, he gets completely upset and screams that this
wasn’t what they were actually fighting for.

Okonomiyaki
is a “Japanese pizza” in which one puts many toppings, particularly meat,
stir-fired cabbage and a sweet sauce on top. It’s made on a humongous grill
which is a flat hot square surface. Ukyou Kuonji’s character in Ranma ˝ specializes
in okonomiyaki martial arts and carries a humongous spatula. She also dresses
up like a guy in her first scene in the manga (giggle for the drag king in
training!)

This
was the first lesbian sex scene that I have ever written, but not my last.
And I dedicate this chapter to Tricia Ang and Pamela Bibeth Libed, my UC Davis
sapphic sisters.